Prayer

My friend, Ann, invited me to hear a speaker at New Life Academy tonight.  I pictured a "church lady" scolding me for my poor parenting, which probably arose from my self-consciousness and my addiction to xbox.  I was surprised when our speaker, Becky Tirabassi, began to tell of her alcoholism, careless sex and dropping out of college when she was nineteen.  A speaker is always more fun when they either shock you or relate to you.  Let's just say I wasn't shocked. 
Rather than focusing on how to raise your child to stay out of such messes, she focused on prayer. What I got out of it was that prayer doesn't have to feel like a duty.  Becky writes in her journal as she prays and has all kinds of lists and catagories of people and things to pray for.  She doesn't have some wonderful Franklin Dayplanner type of plan.  She just talks to God by writing and then uses a daily Bible reading plan to hear back from Him.  She spends an hour a day praying and asked if we were willing to start with ten minutes a day.
The other important thing I took from her speaking was to keep an eye on your kids and talk openly to them about alcohol and sex.  She wrote a book which I think will help me with all of these things and I'm really looking forward to reading it.  Becky made quite a few great statements, but the one I remember the most is that people who pray get the most accomplished in their day.  I always feel like I'm not 'doing' anything when I'm praying because I'm sitting still.  I get so anxious about getting things done that I forget who really has the power to get the most important things done.  With teenagers in my house, I can't afford to overlook the power of prayer any longer.  I'm anxious to begin a new prayer habit.  Fortunately, we were told to have someone hold us accountable for this new goal, so if I forget by tomorrow, Ann, will you call me?  Thanks!